By Will Pruett, ProWrestling.net Co-Senior Staffer (@itswilltime)
A little bit later today, as I spent the evening last night enjoying an absolutely transcendent Florence + The Machine concert!
– I must open this collection of thoughts by expressing some sadness about Willow Nightingale’s injury and the overall state of the AEW Women’s Division. While there is a ton of talent in that division, the best ongoing story has been Willow’s “comeback killer” run with the TBS Championship. Thekla has not impressed me as Women’s World Champion, likely due to the lack of a good or great feud since winning the title from Kris Statlander. The full division is really hurting after losing Toni Storm and due to Mercedes Moné’s absence. AEW needs to get it together quickly, or they risk this division falling off a cliff. It would be smart to start with a basic one-on-one story for Thekla as World Champion.
– Darby Allin vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey was a fun match, but it suffered from shenanigans that Allin’s title reign has mostly avoided. I understand the MJF involvement, but it took away from the match being a major moment for Speedball. This match also suffered more than the other matches in Darby’s reign from having the foregone conclusion of Sunday’s Hair vs. Title match. For a block that ran three hours, this was also more of a sprint (just 11 minutes) than expected.
– Kevin Knight’s performance on the mic was uneven in his post-match motivational promo to Speedball Bailey. Knight continues to come off a little heelish in these encounters. It seems like we are getting closer to the next shoe dropping for both of these men. I would expect a friendly challenge for the TNT Championship coming in the future, perhaps followed by a less friendly encounter. Hopefully, it will move faster than Hikaru Shida’s upcoming turn.
– Jon Moxley vs. Kyle O’Reilly going to a 20-minute time limit was unexpected. O’Reilly had the cover of this being his first singles match since returning and knocking off some rust. This match coming up at Double or Nothing puzzles me a little bit. Does O’Reilly beat Moxley and reign as Continental Champion? Does Moxley stall O’Reilly’s momentum after doing so much to make him over the fall and again on this show? Neither option seems ideal at this point for AEW, with Moxley as a truly hot act and O’Reilly still coming back.
– Mark Briscoe vs. Tommaso Ciampa in an Anything Goes match was bloody and intense. It felt a little bit out of place, given how extreme and violent Stadium Stampede will likely be. This is one where I would have loved promos from each man before the match. They both talk really well and reminding us of their hatred and intensity before we got into the cheese-grating of a forehead would have been neat.
– Someone out there must be enjoying Chris Jericho right now, but it sure isn’t me. This is not a terrible thing for The Young Bucks to be involved in, but it feels like a step down from the great feud and match with FTR in March. I know they’ll be highlights of Stadium Stampede, but the opening promos with the Bucks and Jericho made me cringe. The sooner the Bucks are away from Jericho (and perhaps feuding with other old Canadian men), the better.
– Swerve Strickland and Bandido had a fine brawl to get ready for their Owen Hart Tournament opening round match. Positioning it after the wild Briscoe and Ciampa match was less than ideal. I want to see more from Swerve than just discussions of “power” – but aside from a substantial promo, a brawl works. Swerve’s heel character needs more momentum behind it after the loss to Kenny Omega and the subsequent absence. Swerve vs. Bandido should be fun at Double or Nothing.
– Renee Paquette has been amazing in her ringside/sideline announcer role. It’s the perfect mix of analysis and commentary for her strengths. She is a uniquely great performer in professional wrestling, and finding this role for her (and using it liberally) is making AEW a much better show.
– Will Ospreay’s mission statement promo should have been a part of AEW Dynamite’s main broadcast and probably should have opened this show. Putting it on the Collision broadcast after AEW’s main Dynamite was awkward and poorly positioned. I continue to believe the main story in AEW this summer and fall will be Ospreay rising to and defending the AEW Men’s World Championship. Why is he not being featured as a main star on the biggest show?
– Jack Perry swinging a bag of onions at dastardly heels is actually perfect wrestling comedy.
Here we go again into another pay-per-view! AEW is great at putting together major shows, so hopefully Sunday brings us all a lot of joy and another great needle drop in the Stadium Stampede match.
Will Pruett writes about wrestling and popular culture at prowrestling.net. To see his video content subscribe to his YouTube channel. To contact, check him out on Bluesky @itswilltime, leave a comment, or email him at itswilltime@gmail.com.
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